Security Systems Which Use Finger Prints Or Iris Scans To Verify Identity Can Be Outsmarted.

Mick Hall with a piece from Organized Rage on the fallibility of supposed infallible security systems.    


English: A fingerprint scanner at the offices ...
A fingerprint scanner 
 Touch ID has been hailed as a huge step forward in security authentication for a variety of uses. Apple popularised the technique with its iPhone 5 series, and now most of its customers can’t live without it.

Yet Jan Krissler, also know by his alias 'Starbug,' told a conference of hackers in Germany he has copied the thumbprint of the German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen. Speaking at the 31st annual conference of the Chaos Computer Club in Hamburg, Krissler highlighted the dangers in relying on security technology.

Krissler explained that he didn't even need an object that von der Leyen had touched to create the copy. Using several close-range photos in order to capture every angle, Krissler used a commercially available software called VeriFinger to create an image of the minister's fingerprint.

Along with fellow hacker Tobias Fiebig, Krissler has been working at the Technical University of Berlin on research into weaknesses of biometric security systems. Krissler pulled a similar stunt in 2008 with a fingerprint of then interior minister and current Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

Krissler intends to show how systems which use these prints or iris scans to verify identity, which are becoming more prevalent and popular, can be outsmarted. He gave the example of facial recognition software that can be fooled by a person's photograph, as well as showing how his fake fingerprint can trick the iPhone fingerprint sensor.

In 2013, Krissler made a comment about how he trusted his passwords far more than his fingerprints, according to Spiegel Online. Spiegel also reported another security hole from the conference: reading a user's PIN code from reflections in their pupils while taking selfies.

Perhaps world's so called political elite should start wearing gloves as an alternate method of keeping their identity secure.

1 comment:

  1. A fingerprint scanner
    Touch ID has been hailed as a huge step forward in security authentication for a variety of uses. Apple popularised the technique with its iPhone 5 series, and now most of its customers can’t live without it.


    Didn't Forest Gump buy into Apple.? Fcuk!!! Don't Apple want the world to believe their 'i-cloud' can't be circumvented.. The people behind the 'celeb crack' used both luck and a kinda 'dictionary attack'...

    Apple....I prefer somethng more fresh myself.

    ReplyDelete